


The Art of Courtly Love

by SirensSong



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: A/B/O, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Omegaverse, Prince Merlin, Prince Merlin AU, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:17:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5188355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirensSong/pseuds/SirensSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur's an Alpha. Merlin's an Omega. They're both princes.</p>
<p>Uther wants an alliance with Balinor. Balinor wants nothing to do with Uther.</p>
<p>Arthur and Merlin feel the same about each other as their fathers do, and thus this whole courting thing is a complete farce.</p>
<p>Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Courtly Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Merlin Mpreg fest '15, prompt: All children of Albion enter the Long Sleep somewhere around their 18th birthday. They will sleep for 7 days as their body completes its maturation cycle which will show if they are alpha, omega or beta. Their status is speculated but there is currently no way to know.  
> Arthur is the Prince of Camelot and has already had his awakening, an Alpha as expected. Royal omegas are rare so Arthur is expected to take a commoner consort but to marry another royal.   
> Merlin, Prince of Ealdor, enters his long sleep and awakens not only as a rare royal omega but a male omega.
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely RottenRice.
> 
> Title is the title of a 12th century book about how love is suffering, and how love also only exists within extramarital affairs - the two theories that caused Lancelot to be created and given to Guinevere as her lover.
> 
> I was informed while writing that as Omegaverse has developed, the impact of scent within the trope has gone down significantly. Though I very rarely reference it in this fic due to being used to it being assumed to be there, I feel the need to add: scent is very important in this fanfic! Every person has a heightened sense of smell, as well as a somewhat unique scent. This unique scent, once they have presented, also carries certain hints that reveal whether the person is Alpha, Beta, or Omega. Also, when a pair bonds, they carry hints of their partner's scent on them, marking them as bonded even when they're apart.

The messenger that burst into the chambers of the king and queen was breathless, but there was an excited air about him, one that was steadily spreading through the castle, a hum that seemed to energize everyone.

Prince Merlin had awoken from his Long Sleep.

He had awoken as an _Omega_.

Merlin was sitting up groggily in his bed when his mother and father entered his chambers, Queen Hunith immediately rushing forward to sit on the edge of his bed and hug him. The scent of new Omega lingered on him, still faint but most definitely there. It would stay for the next week or so, while his body adapted the last bit it needed to, before his scent changed and became more individualized.

“Mum, please,” Merlin grumbled, pushing his mother away from him with heavy arms that didn’t want to work, sore and unhappy as most people were when they first awoke from their Sleeps. It was only natural, what with how their body shifted and changed while they were asleep, and he had been warned of it before he fell into his own. That didn’t make the ache in his thighs, hips, abdomen, and chest any easier to deal with. “I don’t really want to be touched right now. Everything hurts,” he grumbled in quiet explanation, since he wasn’t usually one to refuse his mother when she tried to fuss over him.

“That will fade in the next day or so,” Hunith assured quickly, obviously delighted with his presentation. She insisted on carding her fingers through Merlin’s hair despite his light protestations, though she did stop touching him elsewhere, and turned her attention towards Balinor when he spoke.

The king was shifting his weight from foot to foot, obviously slightly uncomfortable but also pleased. They had all expected Merlin to present as a Beta, thanks to his distinct lack of any behaviorisms that were telling of an Alpha or Omega. His presentation was welcome, though, as it would make a treaty with Ealdor incredibly desirable for any kingdom with an Alpha heir. An Omega of a royal line was always highly desirable, but as a male Omega, Merlin was even more desirable than the occasional Omega princess. Even so, Balinor knew his son’s stance on many of the Alphas of the other kingdoms, and hesitated despite what he wanted to do.

After clearing his throat, he finally spoke up. “Merlin, I’m sure you’re aware of the opportunity your status as an Omega offers us,” he said, wanting to send out messengers as soon as possible, even if Merlin wasn’t feeling the best currently. He could be left in peace after this. “It will make an alliance with Ealdor the most sought after treaty in Albion. It would do no harm to see what offers the other kingdoms are willing to put forth.”

Merlin’s nose wrinkled in obvious distaste, but his expression was considering. His parents had always promised him a love match, one he decided on himself, and he trusted them not to go back on their word just because he was an Omega. His father was right, though; it wouldn’t do any harm to see how much the other kingdoms would scramble to try and secure him as a mate for their heirs. They wouldn’t be expecting it. It would be _amusing_. And with that thought, his thoughtful frown turned into a slight smirk. Oh, this might even be _fun_.

“Go ahead and send out news of my presentation as an Omega, as well as that you are looking to find my mate through an alliance,” he agreed, drawing smiles from both his parents. It worked in his favor. He would get to see the Alphas he had grown up being forced to act nicely with try to win him over, and he would get his parents to leave him alone right now so his body could recover from the changes of the past week. It was perfect.

\---

The messenger arrived in the morning, and was sent back out within only hours with the response. It was only after Uther had sent the man back to Ealdor that he summoned Arthur to him.

“Prince Merlin has come out of his sleep,” Uther said, watching his son from the corner of his eye.

Leaning against the wall, Arthur cocked an eyebrow, lips tilting up in a smirk. “Finally growing up, is he? About time. Though I don’t see why you’ve called me here just for that, Merlin being a Beta isn’t of any importance to me.”

“That’s just it, though,” Uther said, before Arthur could continue speaking. “He hasn’t presented as expected.”

“He’s an Alpha?” Arthur burst out, once again halting his father before he could tell him what was actually going on. “There’s no way that scrawny little-”

“Arthur,” Uther said sharply, finally silencing him between his tone and the look he leveled at him. “The Prince of Ealdor has woken as an Omega,” he finally managed to say, watching Arthur’s expression fall open with shock. “It is an unexpected, but fortuitous turn of events. Even more so considering his father is accepting offers for his hand from any royal Alpha.”

“Father, no,” Arthur started, obviously having realized where the discussion was going. “Merlin is-”

“Silence,” Uther snapped again. “It is not up for discussion. We have been seeking an alliance with Balinor for too long, and Merlin is a valuable commodity now. I am not going to allow this chance to slip by us. When they arrive in Camelot, you will court Prince Merlin, and you will win his favor. Am I understood?”

Though it was obviously with great reluctance, Arthur bowed his head. “Yes, Father,” he said, though there was an undertone of anger to his tone that slipped by. That said, he turned and left his father’s chambers without waiting to be dismissed.

\---

The messages came to Ealdor quickly, as expected. There was one from every surrounding kingdom, and while some were merely congratulations on his presentation, others were the more expected offers of alliance. There were four of note, the first of them being from Deorham, which just made Merlin laugh upon reading it. Prince Gwaine was a close friend, but there was no way Merlin would ever be able to think of him as anything more than that. Gwaine’s father would push the union, though, and Merlin planned on enjoying the time he would spend in his friend’s kingdom as a result of the invitation.

The second was much more serious. Queen Annis’ daughter, Pollentia, had written herself, or it seemed that way anyway, and knowing her, Merlin figured it was the likeliest case. Caerleon was a force to be reckoned with, and an alliance with Annis would be a good political move for Ealdor. It was one Merlin would need to keep in mind while he visited with Caerleon’s Alpha princess.

The third invitation caused Hunith to stand and leave the room in utter disgust. It was from Essetir, and since Cenred had no children, he seemed to be making a bid to have Merlin for himself. Slightly sick to his stomach himself at the idea of it, Merlin very quickly placed that letter with the others, not wanting to consider it for any longer than he absolutely had to. Somehow, he could only imagine that even if Cenred did have children of his own, he would still have been making a bid for an alliance through bond.

The final message that included anything of note was from Camelot, much to Balinor’s irritation and Merlin’s annoyance. Uther had been trying to secure an alliance with them for ages, and Balinor continually rebuffed him, not overly fond of some of Uther’s policies and methods of ruling. Merlin was no more fond of Arthur than their fathers were of each other, and he was sure Arthur would be agreeing to the visit under just as much duress as he was.

And, of course, as they mapped out the next few months, Camelot would be the first stop. Balinor planned on staying behind, as the king, so Hunith was going to go with Merlin to each of the four other kingdoms, as well as a hand-selected group of knights. No one really expected any sort of unwanted business in any of the kingdoms, as it was a time of relative peace, but travelling could be dangerous, especially with Merlin as an unbonded Omega, so precautions needed to be taken. As much as that irritated him, since he could defend himself perfectly well, he knew better than to try to argue. So, as soon as correspondence had been sent out to confirm the rough arrival dates at each of the kingdom, Merlin, his mother, and their group of knights set out.

\---

When their party reached Camelot, there was a whole party waiting for them in the courtyard. The King stood on the steps leading into the castle, and Arthur was at his shoulder, with all sorts of knights, nobles, and servants standing in their best finery around them. The only thing that kept Merlin from rolling his eyes was the fact that everyone was looking at him. And it wasn’t like they didn’t do the same thing in Ealdor when they received royalty from other kingdoms, it was just the polite way to greet them, but that didn’t make it any less pompous or irritating.

As they slowed their horses, King Uther strode forward, and Arthur trotted along at his side. They only split up when they reached them, Uther dutifully going to help down Hunith from her horse, gracious smile in place that actually looked genuine, while Arthur walked a little further to where Merlin sat on his horse. The thought of kicking Arthur in the face instead of letting him look like he was helping him down was splendid, but Merlin let it go. Protocol and all. He didn’t actually need to help dismounting, and he expected Arthur to act like it, but instead the Alpha reached to settle his hands on his hips and actually try to take some of his weight as he slid to his feet, which caused Merlin to stare blankly at him for a few moments.

“Don’t you dare,” he hissed suddenly, and protocol could fuck itself about this. Arthur had taken one of his hands and was beginning to raise it, and if he kissed the back, Merlin was going to slap him. “I am not some delicate fucking flower just because I presented as an Omega, and so help me god, Arthur, if you start treating me like one I will castrate you in your sleep and your father can kiss the next heir goodbye no matter who he gets you to bond to.”

Which was probably was not a great way to greet Arthur when they hadn’t seen each other in a couple years, especially in front of members of Camelot’s court and the king himself. He had kept his voice down, but obviously he had still been audible, because his mother was scowling at him and King Uther looked like he might pass out.

“Ahem,” Merlin said lamely, as if acting like he had something caught in his throat was going to help when the courtyard had gone dead silent. He let his gaze go back to Arthur and, fuck the prat, he looked as if he was about to start laughing hysterically. Merlin leveled a glare at him, but he still brought his hand up and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, though it was accompanied by a shit-eating grin.

“As you wish, Prince Merlin,” he said quietly, voice still thick with restrained laughter. “May I show you to the chambers we’ve had prepared for you?”

Merlin glanced at his mother, and she arched one eyebrow at him before nodded and leveling him with a look. She didn’t view Arthur as a serious competitor for his hand, but this was still a political visit, the look reminded him. He had already reached his fuck up capacity for the visit. Or at very least, if he was lucky, the day. So, somewhat sheepishly, Merlin let himself be led into the castle with Arthur at his side, thankfully keeping his hands to himself now.

Once they were inside the castle and had turned around a corner, Arthur let out a breath of what was obviously sheer relief. Merlin looked over just in time to catch his eye, and was flashed a small smile for his effort. “I’ll try to make this as painless as possible for both of us,” he said, and suddenly it was Merlin’s turn to let out a breath of relief, one he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Despite knowing the idea was ridiculous, he had been concerned Arthur would want to actually court him, be genuinely interested, and he had so not been okay with the idea of that kind of treatment, not from Arthur.

He supposed he’d been afraid of people treating him differently just because of how he’d presented, and though the idea of Arthur desperately trying to win him over may have initially been humorous, actually faced with his old childhood nemesis, the thought had made him feel ill.

“Thank the gods for that,” he said, letting himself return the small smile. “If you were taking this seriously I might have had to take drastic measures.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Arthur scoffed, and the weight on Merlin’s chest lightened further as Arthur shoved his shoulder, sending him a few steps towards the wall. “You’re still Merlin. As if I would ever seriously court you.”

“Good, because the last thing I want is you trying to suck up to me. It’d make you even more unattractive,” Merlin answered, returning the shove to Arthur’s shoulder, though he didn’t manage to make him sidestep. That was nothing new, though, Arthur had always been physically stronger than him. It came with being trained as a knight, as well as being an Alpha. Merlin had a wiry strength, but he was an archer, not a big physical fighter like Arthur. He was still strong, but in a different way, one that didn’t lend itself to big bulging arm muscles. Which, he did allow himself to note, had developed on Arthur quite nicely, now that he was actually a mature Alpha and settled into his sex.

The last time he had seen Arthur, that… really hadn’t been the case. A little under three years previously, when Arthur had woken from his own Sleep an Alpha like everyone had expected, Uther had invited the other royals of the Five Kingdoms to a celebration. Though it was grudgingly, Balinor had attended, and taken sixteen-year-old Merlin with him.

They had ended up leaving early after he and Arthur had something of a spectacular fight during one of the final nights. Though really, it wasn’t his fault Arthur had, for some reason, been under the impression he could _‘accidentally’_ tip a pitcher of gravy over Merlin’s head and not receive the same treatment in return. Even if Arthur’s actions had been preceded by Merlin pointing out exactly how unflattering the transitional stage was on Arthur, who was somewhat stocky and short without the muscle he had built up now. In other words, he hadn’t made a very intimidating image. Gravy had been exchanged for a bowl of some hot vegetable soup that had slid down the back of Arthur’s tunic, and the whole situation had quickly escalated to drunk Alphas smashing their neighbors’ faces into their plates while Arthur had forced Merlin down onto the table, followed him down onto it, and proceeded to roll and struggle with each other, much to the horror of both their fathers.

Merlin was actually fairly certain their quick departure from Camelot the next morning was one of the only things Uther and Balinor had ever agreed on.

Regardless, it hadn’t been the first incident between them, and Merlin highly doubted it would be the last. He knew how infuriating Arthur was, but he had promised his mother to behave in a less childish fashion and hoped Arthur would as well. They weren’t kids after all, stuff like that wouldn’t be amusing to anymore anyone, just disgraceful.

There was little else said between them while Arthur walked him to his chambers, just one hall over from his own, if he remembered correctly. Rather than looking out onto the training field as Arthur’s did, the windows opened to a beautiful courtyard Merlin planned on finding the way to at some point. It seemed like a wonderful little secluded area where he could take some time to collect himself, if he ever needed to.

“Well, then, I’ll just go.”

Caught up in leaning out the window, Merlin had almost forgotten Arthur was still standing there and quickly pulled back to spin and face him, smiling a little bashfully. “Right, well,” he said, clearing his throat. “Thank you, Prince Arthur.”

It was all terribly awkward and formal, but he supposed that was how a lot of things were going to be now, and not just between himself and Arthur. The downside to having presented as an Omega. Arthur pulled a face as he watched, though, and waved one hand in the air. “Honestly, none of that,” he said as he did.

Merlin cocked one eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. Arthur had made it clear there was to be nothing serious about the courting, which he was incredibly grateful for, but to wave off the formality that had been expected of them after the age of ten or so was something else. Not that they had ever used that formality when not in the presence of their parents, but still, it had also never been vocalized in such a fashion.

“Well, I mean, there’s really no reason for it, is there?” Arthur continued, once it became clear that Merlin wasn’t going to give him a verbal response. “We’ve covered each other in food, beaten up on each other, seen each other naked-”

“I was like three, you were six, it doesn’t count!” Merlin immediately protested, jaw snapped shut when Arthur just started laughing. That was obviously the response he’d been trying to get, the prick. “Ass,” he added dryly, just for good measure. “I thought you were leaving?” There must have been a little more bite to the question than he thought, because Arthur sobered quickly, clearing his throat and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“Right, of course,” he said. “Dinner will be soon - my father would appreciate if you and your mother joined us. A servant will let you know when it’s time.”

He turned and left as soon as he finished speaking, and Merlin bit back the desire to call him back, because he hadn’t actually meant to chase him out so abruptly. He shook it off, then, and pasted on a smile when a servant entered a few minutes later with his bags. It was going to be a few weeks before they left, so he figured he might as well unpack and make himself feel somewhat at home.

\---

Dinner itself was smooth, if somewhat strained and awkward. Merlin was on his best behavior after the events of that afternoon, and Arthur seemed to be as well. Most of the strain actually came from their parents, much to Merlin’s surprise, though he knew better than to question it.

No, dinner was quiet. It was what happened that evening that was so ridiculous.

\---

“Father, you can’t be serious,” Arthur said, both of his eyebrows raised in sheer disbelief. He couldn’t believe this was what was being demanded of him. He knew he was supposed to court Merlin, but… this was utterly ridiculous. “Didn’t you hear him earlier today? There’s no way he’ll appreciate something like that.”

“Arthur,” Uther said on a sigh, obviously fed up with the conversation. “I know you think you understand what the boy wants, but you don’t. He’s an Omega. They like gestures like this, even if they act like they don’t. They’re soft, tender creatures, and this is the only way to win them over.”

Soft and tender were two words Arthur would never associate with Merlin regardless of his sex, but it was growing rather obvious that arguing with his father was completely pointless. Though it was with more than a little reluctance, since he knew this was going to backfire spectacularly, Arthur stopped trying and just went out to do his father’s bidding.

\---

After dinner, Merlin was surprised and relieved to be allowed to retire without having anything else thrown at him. It had been a long day, especially after travelling, and it was good to lay down on an actual bed again. It was only about a week’s travel between the capitals of the two kingdoms since they shared a border, but still. Riding all day and then sleeping more or less on the ground was far from his favorite way to spend a week.

Despite having thought it surprising and somewhat suspicious that he and Arthur weren’t being forced into spending some sort of time together after dinner, once he laid down and opened one of the books he had brought with him, he’d let thoughts of the courtship slip away from him. For a little while, he was able to relax, and was starting to doze off when a voice drifted up to him, presumably through the open window.

“Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.  
It is a moon wrapped in brown parchment.  
It promises light  
like the careful undressing of love.”

Snapping fully awake, Merlin’s brow furrowed as the words sank in, utterly confused. It was obviously Arthur speaking, but the subject just seemed absolutely ridiculous. Somewhat curious, though, he stood and padded over to the window, leaning out over the sill. Arthur was, as suspected, standing two floors before in the little courtyard and, yes, extending an onion up towards Merlin while he recited whatever it was he was reciting.

“Here.  
It will blind you with tears  
like a lover.  
It will make your reflection  
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.”

It was just ridiculous, and despite himself, Merlin started to laugh. It helped that Arthur was reciting it with a completely dead tone, his expression just as dry.

“I give you an onion.  
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,  
possessive and faithful  
as we are,  
for as long as we are.

Take it.  
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,  
if you like.

Lethal.  
Its scent will cling to your fingers,  
cling to your knife.”

By the time Arthur finished, Merlin had let his elbows drop onto the window sill and was leaning out, almost crying with laughter. He didn’t think he’d ever heard such an absurd excuse for a love poem, but trust Arthur to manage to dig up such an absolute gem.

Obviously getting caught up in Merlin’s laughter, Arthur’s deadpan tone had started to waver near the end, his own lips twitching up with the desire to laugh along as well.

“You’re ridiculous,” Merlin managed to say, through his own laughter, and caught the momentary grin that was flashed at him. Smug git was obviously pleased with himself. Not that Merlin could really blame him this time, though, because that had been rather wonderful. “Honestly. What the hell, Arthur? An onion? Really?”

“Hey, you’re laughing, aren’t you? That’s a better response than I would have gotten with something actually stupid and romantic!” Arthur pointed out, which just sent Merlin into another round of laughter.

“Yes, yes it is,” he agreed, once the laughter had dwindled off into chuckles and he was just grinning down at Arthur again, propping his jaw on one hand, now. “But I’m still far from swayed. Run along now, little Alpha. We both know what my answer is,” he continued with a sweet smile.

Arthur merely rolled his eyes, tossing the onion up a bit and catching it again, his expression turning considering. Merlin’s gaze narrowed immediately, tracking its movement. If Arthur threw it at him, there would be retaliation, and considering his height he had the advantage. Especially considering he was an archer and wouldn’t miss if he threw it back. Judging by the fact that Arthur quickly tossed it to the side, he had obviously realized that as well, and Merlin let his expression morph into something a little more smug. “Yeah yeah, I’m going,” Arthur finally said. “Though don’t expect this to be the last you see of me. My father is rather determined that I woo you until you fall into my arms.”

“That will never happen,” Merlin scoffed, and Arthur merely nodded his agreement.

“Try telling him that, though,” he agreed, finally turning and started to head toward what merlin assumed was the door that lead out of the courtyard back into the castle. Just before he vanished from sight, though, he paused and looked back up at Merlin’s window. “Sleep well, Merlin,” he said, so earnestly Merlin was taken aback for a few moments. By the time he made to reply, Arthur had gone.

\---

That first night ended up setting something of a trend for the following week. More than a little displeased with Arthur’s choice of poem, Uther sent him back the next night, this time with a pre-approved poem.

Regardless of knowing the king was standing just out of sight in the shadows of the courtyard, Merlin very happily upended a pitcher of water over Arthur’s head, then walked away cackling while Arthur sputtered down below.

It was well worth King Uther’s unhappy looks the next day.

The third night, Arthur was back with a lyre and a smirk that let Merlin know whatever it was, it was going to be good. Despite picking at the lyre awkwardly, obviously not comfortable with the instrument, the Alpha was more than comfortable with song he sang.

“I put my hand upon her leg, yo ho, yo ho.  
I put my hand upon her leg, yo ho, yo ho.  
I put my hand upon her leg  
She said “My lord, don’t tease me so  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.

I put my hand upon her thigh, yo ho, yo ho,  
I put my hand upon her thigh, yo ho, yo ho,  
I put my hand upon her thigh  
She said “My lord, you’re making me high  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.

I put my hand upon her hair, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her hair, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her hair  
She said “My lord, you’re getting there  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.

I put my hand upon her tit, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her tit, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her tit  
She said “My lord, you’ve missed a bit  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.

I put my hand upon her twat, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her twat, yo ho, yo ho  
I put my hand upon her twat  
She said “My lord, you’re getting me hot  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.

Now my love’s in an old pine box, yo ho, yo ho  
Now my love’s in an old pine box, yo ho, yo ho  
Now my love’s in an old pine box  
She couldn’t handle a ten inch cock  
Whip it in, whip it out, quit fucking about  
Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho.”

At the end of it, Merlin’s sides hurt from laughing. It shouldn’t have been as funny as it was, but he appreciated Arthur’s attempts to keep the courtship the joke that it was and make it less miserable for both of them. Even if it did cause a repeat of the second night on the fourth, with Uther supervising while Arthur sang something more along the lines of what the king believed suitable for an Omega’s ears. Since the water hadn’t seemed to deter him, and Merlin didn’t have anything else at hand he was willing to dump on Arthur, he just refused to go anywhere near the window or make his presence known.

It didn’t work to make it end any sooner, but as long as he focused just on Arthur’s fairly decent voice and not the words or the reason for the singing, it wasn’t too horrible to listen to.

Despite being annoyingly persistent, even Uther could eventually realize when some tactic wasn’t working, and the singing and poetry recitals ended. Merlin had one night’s respite, and very firmly shoved away the light touch of disappointment. He’d gotten used to being able to torment Arthur from above and was a little bit sad the opportunity was, apparently, gone.

That slight sadness was short-lived, however, as the night after was a whole different kind of hell.

A good deal later in the night than Arthur had been coming around previously, there was a scuffle outside the window. Surprised, Merlin shot up off the bed, listening carefully. There were quiet grunts and what sounded like boots against the stone of the wall. Concerned about some kind of attack, Merlin snatched up his bow and notched an arrow, moving to put the bed between himself and the window and lining up the sight. He could easily shoot whoever was climbing up before they had a chance to reach him.

It wasn’t that long of a distance from the ground to the second floor window, but it took a good five minutes, and then Arthur gracelessly fell into the room, tumbling ass over tit onto the floor.

As soon as he recognized that it was just Arthur, and with a fucking rose between his teeth at that, Merlin groaned and lowered the bow. He kept his expression unimpressed as Arthur stood and brushed himself off, then finally looked up to meet his gaze, smiling around the stem of the rose.

“I hope the thorns pierce your tongue and you bleed out,” Merlin said emphatically.

Much to his irritation, Arthur simply laughed and reached up to take the rose between his fingers. He extended it towards Merlin even as he cross his other arm over his stomach and dipped into a bow, sliding one foot around behind the other. “For my darling,” he said, and Merlin would have bristled at the whole display, exception his tone was overtly sarcastic.

“Mhmm,” he hummed, unimpressed, and finally set his bow back down, placing the arrow neatly back with the others. He cross over then and studied the rose before plucking it out of Arthur’s fingers. “You stripped the thorns first? Tsk tsk. Love is suffering, you know. How am I supposed to believe you want me when you’re not risking life and limb for me?”

“I’ll risk life and limb during the tourney the day after tomorrow,” Arthur said, standing from the mock bow once Merlin had taken the rose. Merlin just grimaced, though, and went from almost admiring the rose, fingers skimming over the petals, to tossing it to the side, where it landed on the table.

“Right,” he scoffed. “I’d almost forgotten. The tournament, supposedly in my honor, where I get to act the damosel and hand out favors.” He was less than pleased, and it showed in his tone and the way he swayed back and forth on his feet dramatically as if he were swooning, hands clasped to his chest, fluttering his eyelashes.

Arthur laughed. It was warm and good-natured, like it usually was, Merlin was finding. Much to his own surprise. His previous experiences with Arthur laughing were usually at the expense of another person, and it had always been a nasty, mean sound. He was surprised, again, by how much Arthur had matured since he’d first presented.

“Yeah, I don’t envy you that,” he answered, taking the liberty of pulling out one of the chairs at the table and flopping down onto it, reaching to pick up the rose again and twirl it between his fingers. Arthur even being in his chambers so casually, just the two of them, was technically not allowed, Merlin pulled out another of the chairs and sat down heavily, crossing his arms over the top of it and glaring across it at the wall.

“There’s not even going to be an archery competition, so I can’t even sneak in to compete,” he said on a sigh, watching Arthur out of the corner of his eye to gaze his reaction. He was taken aback by the soft noise of sympathy from Arthur, rather than the scoff or snide comment he still expected.

Fuck it all, but he was starting to think maybe he’d have to rethink his opinion of Arthur.

Not that he wasn’t still a complete ass, because he was, but he was strangely decent as well. Cordial and proper in public, but more likely to lean in close and make a joke about something or someone else, rather than making Merlin the butt of those jokes. And it was all done in good humor. In private, it was somewhat similar. Arthur would insult him and shove him around, like always, but without the biting edge that had always existed before. It threw Merlin for a loop every time, made his own insults lacklustre, but even the comments about losing his touch were more humorous than triumphant.

“Pity, that. I would have helped you sneak away to enter,” Arthur said, his voice thoughtful. Merlin was tempted to ask what he was thinking, but decided against it. “I’ve seen you with that thing, after all,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want to go up against you.”

“Thanks,” Merlin said, pitching his voice so it was dry, despite knowing Arthur had meant it genuinely. There was silence for a few moments, before Arthur sighed audibly and leaned forward, arms dropping onto the table. The rose ended up just within Merlin’s line of sight, clutched loosely in Arthur’s fingers. He had been about to go to sleep before Arthur had showed up, so most of the candles were out. In the almost-darkness, the rose looked more black than red.

“Well, suppose I should go,” Arthur said, when the silence had stretched long enough to stop being comfortable and start being awkward. “I wouldn’t want to risk compromising your honor or anything,” he added as he stood and Merlin surprised even himself by laughing.

“Oh, shut up,” he said, amused where he would have been offended, if that comment had sounded at all serious. “You missed the opportunity to compromise my honor.” He kept his gaze on Arthur as he spoke, almost challenging, but Arthur didn’t rise to the bait.

“Pity,” he said, before standing. He took a step backwards toward the window, shot a considering gaze toward the door, and then shook his head with a wry smile and offered the rose to Merlin again. Trying to puzzle out that last comment, Merlin reached out to accept the rose.

“Try not to slip and kill yourself on the way down,” he said, absently fingering the petals of the rose as Arthur walked to the window and swung one leg over, then the other, and shifted down until Merlin could only see him from the chest up. Against the night sky, with the moonlight at his back, his hair lit up like white gold.

“And here I thought you’d be pushing me to make sure that exactly thing happened,” Arthur chuckled, and Merlin quickly turned his own laugh into a scoff.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said, faux-serious. He could just make out Arthur rolling his eyes, before the Alpha kept a hold with one hand and brought the other up to touch two fingers to his brow and flick them towards him. He dipped out of sight then, and Merlin stood still until he heard the drop of feet on the ground and footsteps moving away.

With Arthur gone, he let out a quiet breath, remembering the rose in his hand and bringing it up to actually study it. Just a stupid flower, no doubt another one of Uther’s schemes he had forced on Arthur. He started to walk towards the fireplace, intending to throw it into the ashes and let it burn the next time he wanted a fire, but reconsidered right before he let go of it.

Instead, he pulled out one of his books and pressed it between the pages, sliding the book back with the others afterward.

One little token wouldn’t hurt.

\---

“Sir Uwaine!”

The announcer for the tournament was loud and obnoxious, as far as Merlin was concerned. He did his best to smile and look like he cared about anything going on. He was sitting in the cordoned-off area of the stands with his mother and King Uther, watching as the knights sort of jousted on the field. Sort of, because it wasn’t an actual competition. The knights weren’t jousting each other. Instead, they were just using their lances to grab little woven hoops of different colors that had been strung up, and then presenting them to Merlin. And for every single knight that managed to snag their hoop, he had to stand and take it, smile and congratulate them, and then go and sit down again.

If he was supposed to remember which knight had given him which hoop, they were all going to be sorely disappointed.

With their helms on, he could barely even tell them apart. He was surprised to honestly find himself anticipating the close combat battles, since even though he knew many of them were likely to be staged or at least set up, it would still be more interesting than this nonsense.

The super formal attire was a little annoying, too. When everyone had expected him to be a Beta, he’d been allowed to wear the same stuff his father usually did, which was just slightly more expensive tunics and jackets, maybe a cloak. Now, all his clothing had been tailored to be tight, as if it was trying to show off curves that didn’t exist. Well, he supposed they did exist in some places, because his hips had certainly widened some, but still. It was incredibly irritating.

They were almost out, though, thank the gods. And though he wasn’t exactly looking forward to going to Annis’ kingdom, he figured it would be more interesting at the very least. Annis’ daughter would be genuinely courting him, after all, instead of this mock thing he and Arthur had been dancing around.

Speaking of Arthur, Merlin’s attention was caught when the announcer called out his name and Camelot’s prince appeared at the edge of the field on an enormous black destrier. He had a strip of deep blue fabric wrapped around his left forearm. It was technically supposed to be Merlin’s favor he was carrying, but it actually belonged to Hunith instead. Merlin had very conveniently not had anything suitable to give Arthur when he’d stopped by for it that morning.

Since Arthur had been making a point to not actually do any courting, Merlin expected the same thing the other knights had done, but quickly learned he should have known better. They were in front of Uther, after all, which meant Arthur would be, grudgingly, behaving. Not only did he pick up what Merlin assumed was his assigned hoop, since it was red and gold, Camelot colors, he also swung around the field and caught every other one that the knights had missed. Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same, for once not having to force it. Arthur came round to where they were seated and lifted his lance, and Merlin plucked all seven of the hoops off of it. They didn’t exchange anything other than that, but when Merlin sat back down, he did run his fingers over the red and gold hoop for a moment longer than usual before setting it with the rest of them.

His mother was looking at him critically.

“What?” he asked her quietly, not wanting to draw Uther’s attention. He had stood up and was making some grand speech about having a short break before the trial of arms began, though, so he wasn’t overly concerned.

Hunith continued to look at him for a few moments, her gaze scanning over him like she was looking for something, but eventually she sat back and shook her head. “Nothing,” she assured, and offered him a tired smile.

Though he was a little put off, Merlin returned it.

The trial of arms began shortly after, and it was a good deal more exciting than the jousting had been. And to Merlin’s great surprise, it was an actual tournament-style trial of arms. Knights were able to select their weapon of choice and went after each other in pairs. Most of the fights were over quickly, normally when one submitted to the other, and nothing ever went past first blood on the few occasions when it was actually drawn. It wasn’t an open tournament between kingdoms and welcome knight errants, after all, so none of the Alphas, and the occasional Beta, fighting actually wanted to hurt each other.

Despite himself, whenever Arthur was on the field, Merlin paid a little more attention.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Arthur came out on top, and bowed low toward the royal section. Merlin hadn’t planned for the next part, but thankfully, Hunith had, and pulled out another strip of fabric. “Where’s Arthur’s hoop?” he asked, voice low.

“What? Why?” Merlin asked, even as he reached for the red and gold hoop and handed it over. Hunith quickly attached the strip of fabric, this one a shimmering emerald green, to the hoop and handed it back to him.

“Toss it down to him,” she instructed. “Honestly, Merlin, you’ve watched me do this hundreds of times, have you never paid attention?”

“Er, no,” he admitted, somewhat sheepishly. Though it really wasn’t his fault - normally he was competing himself, even if only in the archery competition. Thank the gods it was Arthur that had won, though, and he didn’t have to guess at which hoop to toss down to the winning knight. He stood then and walked to the edge, where Arthur was waiting, and tossed the hoop to him. Arthur caught it easily, bowed again, and then made a show of untying the green strip and adding it to the blue one already on his arm. He left the field, then, and Merlin sat back down. Uther stood again, and Merlin assumed it would be to dismiss everyone. Instead, he was left completely surprised again as instead, he announced another short break before the archery competition.

On one hand, Merlin was thrilled. He didn’t know how, but someone had managed to talk Uther into including an archery section. He had an idea of who, but he would have to talk to Arthur before he started thanking him for managing something like that.

On the other hand, he was bloody pissed that he hadn’t known about it and planned to sneak away to take part himself.

For the first half of the competition he was torn between those two things, and probably would have stayed that way if Arthur hadn’t suddenly appeared, dressed in formal attire but without any of his armor. What he did have was a bow in his hand, arrows on his back - Merlin’s bow and arrows, he realized with a closer look.

“Arthur, what-” Uther started, but Arthur was already swinging the quiver off his back and thrusting it and the bow into Merlin’s hands.

“I didn’t think you’d mind the invasion of privacy if it was to fetch these for you,” he said, and Merlin took them clumsily, dumbstruck. “Go, go! You’ll be up soon. I replaced my name with yours.”

Suddenly, Merlin laughed and stood, making a break for it before either of their parents could try to catch and stop him. “Thank you, Arthur,” he said over his shoulder. He briefly caught sight of his mother with a hand over her mouth, as Arthur took the seat next to her that he had just vacated, but didn’t look long enough to figure out if she was hiding a frown or a smile.

Just as Arthur had been the last one on the field to joust, with the little stunt obviously planned, he had apparently been the last one up to shoot as well. Uther had certainly wanted to give him every chance to show off.

Honestly, this was far better than all the wooing and showing off Uther had orchestrated. He could have kissed Arthur for getting him this chance. In Arthur’s tent, where he waited for his name to be called, there was also a change of clothes. He wouldn’t have been able to stand and aim properly in the tight, overly-fitted tunic he had been forced into that morning, but one of his own older ones was waiting for him, as well as a belt. He quickly changed into it, rolling shoulders with a sigh and decided that no, he definitely didn’t mind Arthur sneaking into his chambers this one time, for this one reason. The tunic even still matched the trousers.

When his name was eventually called, he took a breath before headed out onto the field. They had set up a bunch of targets around the field. Many of them had arrows stuck fast in the center, but plenty of them had no arrows or arrows that were a decent way away from the center. Taking a page out of Arthur’s book, he notched his first arrow, and promptly sent it flying into the dead center of the first target, the one meant for him. He continued to put an arrow into the others that were empty and the ones that had only been hit near the edges. If Arthur could show off his consistent skill, so could he.

When he was finished, he had one arrow left, and started to turn towards the royal section to bow as Arthur had. Instead, he was met with a sharp whistle, and looked up to see Arthur standing at the front, leaning out slightly, holding his red and gold hoop up above his head so the wood of the stand was behind it. Understanding, Merlin flashed him a grin and notched his final arrow, taking an extra moment to breathe and make sure his aim was true before letting it fly. The arrow stuck fast into the top edge of the gold and red hoop, pinning it to the stand securely.

Uther looked furious, but Arthur was laughing openly as he dropped his hands to show that it really was stuck fast, and Hunith seemed amused and proud.

Unable to fight off his grin, Merlin let himself laugh as well.

\---

Arthur visiting him through the window late in the evening quickly became a habit. With the tourney finished, they only had a few more days in Camelot before moving on to Caerleon. Merlin was forced to spend time with Arthur during the day, but since they were in public always, things were strained and quiet, always perfectly proper. Mainly because Hunith had made it very clear that after his outburst on the day they arrived, she wouldn’t tolerate any other public disgraces, he was too old for them.

In the evenings, though, it was just the two of them, and they were able to genuinely talk. Merlin was forced to admit that Arthur really had grown up, mentally as well as physically. That didn’t stop him from shoving Merlin into a wall occasionally, or waiting until he was leaning back in his chair to hook a foot around one of the legs and give it a tug so he fell over. But then, Merlin wouldn’t have continued allowing the little meetings if Arthur had stopped any of that. He didn’t treat him differently, but the maliciousness that had been there when they were kids was gone, replaced with something that was almost a mutual respect.

Almost.

Merlin was consistently surprised by their topics of discussion. One night it centered around the different policies of their kingdoms, how Balinor and Uther ruled differently, and how each of them planned to rule when their times came. What sorts of changes they wanted to make, what they would keep the same.

(They would definitely have a much easier time coming to an agreement than their fathers.)

Another night, Merlin was shocked completely silent as Arthur discussed the treatment of Omegas and how he wanted to change it. Neither of their kingdoms were very forward-thinking when it came to Omegas, Uther because he believed them pretty trophies, and Balinor because he was focused on other issues and, as a Beta with a Beta wife, had no strong opinions on it either way. It had been something that bothered Merlin even when he’d had no idea he was one.

He’d come away that night with more than a grudging respect for Arthur.

One night, they even both left out the windows and moved quietly through the castle, out into a much larger courtyard, and taken a nighttime stroll through one of Camelot’s gorgeous gardens. The moonflowers were even open, and despite himself, Merlin’s appreciation for them had gotten the better of him, and he’d snagged one to press along with the rose, hoping Arthur didn’t see.

(He had, of course, but chose not to mention it.)

Things didn’t change until the last night before Merlin’s party was meant to set off for Caerleon. Rather than sneaking into Merlin’s chambers through the window like he usually did, there was a knock on Merlin’s door, and a servant waiting to guide him to Arthur’s chambers. Camelot’s prince was waiting for him there, the table in the main room covered with all sorts of little delectable things.

(“Sweet things,” Uther had insisted. “Omegas love sweet things. Besides, chocolate is a delicacy anyone should love.”)

While it was as awful a generalization as everything else, it was the one thing Uther had gotten right about Merlin personally. Ignoring Arthur, he immediately moved to scan the table, trying to decide what to take first. He settled on a strawberry and dipped it into the bowl of warmed and melted chocolate he assumed was sitting over another bowl of steaming hot water to keep it melted. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he finally asked as he turned to look at Arthur, who was sprawled in an, admittedly, rather attractive way over a plush, high-backed chair.

“So we could have a conversation I never in my life expected to have,” Arthur said, and the seriousness of his tone had Merlin’s smile falling away. He put down the sweetmeat he’d been about to shove in his mouth, and at Arthur’s gesture, took the second chair that was set up just opposite his.

“What’s up?” he asked, almost concerned. He had to leave in the morning, and he had expected anything other than this, Arthur looking troubled and unsure.

There was a long pause, while Arthur seemed to gather himself and find the words, but eventually he leaned forward and spoke. “I know what I said the day you arrived - that this whole thing was a joke,” he started. “That I wouldn’t court you. Well, I. I would like if you would honestly consider me, Merlin.”

Unable to think of anything to answer with, Merlin simply stared at Arthur, and obviously frustrated with the lack of response, Arthur stood and paced away towards the window, agitated.

Apparently, words came to him easier when he wasn’t looking at Merlin.

“You’re different than I remember. Which, really, isn’t strange, since last time you were sixteen. And, look, I know all the things my father forced me to do were ridiculous and that not all Omegas like the same things. Of course they don’t. But somewhere in the last two weeks, it- it stopped being a joke, or a game. For me, at least. And if you were to keep me in mind as you visit the other kingdoms, I would appreciate it.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected that - Arthur just kept surprising him. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. And he would admit to having grown fond of him, even if it had only been over a short period of time. Arthur was amusing, when he wanted to be, and Merlin had been thrilled to be able to show off his skill with a bow in the tournament. Arthur… understood, he supposed. And he was incredibly attractive, no one would deny that. They had similar aspirations for their kingdoms. He didn’t believe Omegas were just good for looking pretty, servicing their Alphas, and having kids. Maybe…

“If I say that your almost-feelings are returned, and I’ll consider you, can we stop having this awkward conversation?” Merlin eventually asked, and was rewarded with Arthur casting a smile at him over his shoulder. He came back and sat down then, and the conversation shifted to much less nerve-wracking topics.

Of course, as it was the last night there, they tried to keep the conversation light. With that heavy bit out of the way, it was much easier to admit he was somewhat reluctant to leave, and Arthur to see him go. By keeping the conversation light, it led to teasing, that eventually turned physical. Merlin wasn’t sure how they’d moved from agreeing to actually consider a mating to this, but he was laughing, and so was Arthur.

He’d somehow managed to get pinned to the furs laid out in front of the fire, his arms by his sides and Arthur’s legs pinning them there as he knelt over his chest, bowl of melted chocolate in his hand.

“Get your _bloody_ fat ass off me!” Merlin said through his laughter, trying in vain to turn over so he could wriggle away, away from Arthur’s chocolate-covered fingers dangling over his face, threatening to spill melted chocolate all over him.

“Not until you admit that I’m the most handsome, noble knight you’ve ever seen! Not until you admit I’m better than Gwaine!” Arthur pressed, scooping out more melted chocolate and letting it drip onto Merlin’s cheek. No doubt both their parents would be horrified at such an expensive delicacy being wasted in such a fashion, but Merlin just laughed and tried harder to squirm away.

Things suddenly took a very different turn when he managed to get one arm free, knocked against the bowl, and suddenly there was chocolate all over his front. They both froze, looking at each other, Arthur’s gaze moving over him. The chocolate covered his tunic and was staining his collar bones and neck, some even having managed to get on his chin, adding to what had previously been dripped onto his cheek.

Arthur cleared his throat. “Maybe we should get this off you,” he said, voice gone somewhat rough. He paused, and Merlin nodded his assent, subconsciously licking his lips. Arthur shifted down, his fingers found the hem of Merlin’s tunic, and then Merlin was arching his back so Arthur could tug it up and off him, a little more of the chocolate smearing on him as he did.

With the tunic discarded, Merlin was lying barechested on the furs underneath Arthur, who was staring down at him. Merlin watched him swallow and waver, and not wanting Arthur to take the moral high road and start trying to get him to clean up properly and head to bed, ran his fingers through the chocolate gathering at the base of his throat. Rather than bringing it to his own mouth, he quickly reached up to smear it over Arthur’s lips, and then tangled his other hand in his hair to drag him down.

\---

The next morning, Hunith knocked on the door to Merlin’s chambers. It was early, but she wanted to make sure he was up and ready to get on the road. When she didn’t get a response, she knocked again, and after a third time let herself in.

Finding his room empty, she let her head drop, sighing heavily. “I swear,” she muttered, bringing up a hand to rub at her forehead.

\---

Uther was confident that, despite all of Arthur’s screw ups, they had a decent shot at Merlin deciding on Arthur as a mate. He wanted to know how the previous night had gone, see if all the sweets had worked to win over the Omega prince, and he figured he might need to rouse Arthur anyway, so he let himself into his son’s chambers that morning.

“Arthur,” he said, but trailed off when he saw the mess the table had become. He certainly hoped the two hadn’t gotten into another food fight. The chocolate stains on the floor and the furs said that they might have, though, and he sighed to himself, hoping it hadn’t ruined their chances.

Turning to the bed, Uther started to say his son’s name instead, but froze when he was greeted not with Arthur’s red sheets and blonde hair, but with a long length of very pale skin. Merlin, he realized. Naked, and sprawled out on Arthur’s bed. Or, more correctly, sprawled out on top of an equally naked Arthur, who had an arm slung over his back.

Belatedly, Uther realized the sticky sweet scent in the room wasn’t just from all the sweets, and hurriedly ran for the door.

\---

Mid-morning, Merlin stood rather sheepishly next to Arthur as servants ran about, finishing final preparations. Hunith and Uther were standing opposite them, looking like complete opposites. There was a smug air about Uther, as if he had known this would be the outcome the whole time. Hunith, on the other hand, was giving Merlin a look that said he had a lecture coming, and it would probably last the whole way to Annis’ castle.

Arthur had a hand on the small of Merlin’s back, and Merlin leaned back into it with a quiet hum. His body was sore in the very best of ways. Riding was going to be absolutely hell, but gods, it was worth it. Arthur hadn’t just adapted well to his new ability to put on muscle, after all, he’d managed to be very proficient with the less innocent aspects that came with being an Alpha. And with both of them still being fairly young, the night had allowed for three separate ties, each longer and better than the last. In short, Arthur’s knot was fucking wonderful. And the pillowtalk hadn’t been bad, either.

Finally, the staring contest he had been forced into by his mother ended, and Merlin turned to Arthur as Hunith started to thank Uther for his hospitality.

“I’ll write,” he promised.

“You’d better,” Arthur answered. “I won’t have Princess Pollentia stealing you from under me,”

“I’d be more worried about Gwaine, if I were you,” Merlin teased, laughing as Arthur’s expression wrinkled with obvious distaste. “Or Cenred. An older, more experienced Alpha, mmm,” he added, just to rub it in. It got the desire effect, though, Arthur shoved at his shoulder.

“Oh, shut up. You’re disgusted by Cenred, we already had that conversation. And what was it you said last night about Gwaine? ‘I’d as soon sleep with my own sibling’, was it?” Arthur answered, and it was Merlin’s turn to shove at him.

“Hush, you. You’re not allowed to bring up things I say while-” Suddenly remembering his mother’s proximity, Merlin shut up very quickly, cheeks coloring some. Arthur just laughed, and caught his hands at the second shove that followed.

“Travel safely,” he said, suddenly very sincere, and squeezed Merlin’s hands lightly before dropping them. “An idiot like you, there’s no telling what sort of trouble you could get into.” There was no bite under the insult, though, only a hint of genuine concern.

“We’ll be safe, don’t worry,” Merlin assured. “And I’ll send a messenger once we arrive at Annis’ castle.”

“Merlin,” Hunith called suddenly. She was waiting by her palfrey, and a servant was holding Merlin’s courser by the bridle. She had an expect look, and Merlin quickly turned to Uther, bowing.

“Thank you for your hospitality, King Uther,” he said, for once managing to sound genuinely respectful.

“Safe travels, Prince Merlin,” Uther answered, dipping his head in return before moving away to stand at the foot of the castle stairs, clapping Arthur on the shoulder as he passed. Suddenly, it was just the two of them again. Merlin shifted his weight, unsure if he should just offer his hand, or bow, or something else, but Arthur made the decision for him.

Leaning closer, Arthur slotted their mouth together, one hand barely brushing over his cheek, the kiss far softer than anything that had been exchanged the previous night. “I’ll be expecting an invitation to visit Ealdor as soon as you get home,” he said, once he’d pulled away, though he stayed close.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Merlin said lightly, though he was fairly certain they both knew it for the promise it was. He took a step away finally, toward his own horse, when Hunith cleared her throat purposefully. “See you then,” he finished, before turning fully and swinging into the saddle.

“Ready?” Hunith asked, her palfrey prancing slightly with impatience.

“Ready,” Merlin assured, nodding and giving her a smile. That didn’t stop him from looking over his shoulder as they rode out of the city, suddenly more eager than ever for his visits to be over and done with.

\---

The time spent travelling to Caerleon was somewhat awkward, but not unenjoyable. His mother didn’t exactly seem pleased with him, but considering by the time they left basically the entire castle was aware he had slept with Arthur, he really couldn’t blame her. After the first night travelling again, she sent a messenger off in the morning, and Merlin just knew it was a letter to his father detailing exactly what had happened between him and Arthur.

Knowing how much Balinor liked Uther, he wasn’t looking forward to getting the response.

Thankfully, they arrived at Queen Annis’ castle before the messenger could return, which was unsurprising considering the distance that needed to be covered. Their greeting at the castle was just as opulent as the one they’d received at Camelot, though it went off with significantly fewer mishaps. Merlin was a little less prone to snapping, though, since he didn’t have as volatile a history with Pollentia as he did with Arthur. A few years older than both of them, she always seemed to view their antics with distaste, preferring to stick close to her mother. She was just as serious as Annis, too, Merlin quickly learned.

The courting was incredibly proper, down to the smallest aspect. They were never alone in a room together, always accompanied by a chaperone or one of their parents. Everything seemed rather subdued, which unfortunately made for a very boring two weeks. While there wasn’t the irritation that came with Arthur’s presence, there also wasn’t the amusement. Looking back, he couldn’t fathom how he had thought he’d be able to consider Pollentia for his mate. She was gorgeous and witty, and Ealdor certainly would have benefitted from such an alliance with Caerleon, but Merlin could not have dealt with her for any longer period of time. He’d have gone mad.

About midway through the visit, he did keep his promise and send Arthur a letter, borrowing one of Caerleon’s messengers to bring it to Camelot. It was just an update on the visit, mostly bemoaning how bored he was.

The day after he’d sent it, Balinor’s response arrived, and Merlin was forced to sit in the chambers he was sharing with his mother - because Annis had decided an unbonded male royal Omega was far too much temptation to leave in a room by himself - and listen to her read it aloud. It wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected, but his father was more than a little displeased that he had let Arthur coax him into bed with him, and even more displeased at hearing his son was honestly considering ‘The Pendragon Prince’ for his mate.

He figured then it was probably best to keep it to himself that he wasn’t really considering so much as decided.

When the time came to leave Caerleon and move on to Essetir, Merlin was both relieved and sick to his stomach at the thought. Of all the places he did not want to spend two weeks, Cenred’s court was the very top of his list. He had only met the Alpha King a handful of times, since normally he was more occupied with Balinor than the prince, but what he had seen of him was slimy and distasteful. He was handsome, in a way, Merlin would admit that. But his personality completely ruined it. There was no way he could ever be persuaded to even consider Cenred, but refusing his invitation would have been as good as a declaration of war. So, despite his reluctance, they moved on.

Things started out poorly, with Cenred being entirely too handsy, and only spiralled downward from there. Cenred was even more off-putting than Merlin had remembered, considering now he actually had the Alpha’s full attention, and he didn’t hesitate to make it abundantly clear that he didn’t want Merlin for a mate and partner so much as for a bedwarmer that was also a good political move. Apparently he had a thing for male Omegas especially, since they were much more rare than female Omegas, and was looking to add Merlin to his ‘collection’ to put in bluntly.

Midway through the visit, when Merlin started feeling ill, he was initially convinced Cenred was drugging his food. He wouldn’t have been surprised, considering he had made it clear early on Cenred’s advances were not appreciated and had continued to deflect them throughout the week. When it didn’t go away, rather became something that happened every morning, and then seemed to fade away for the rest of the day, he was more confused than worried.

Normally, he would have kept it from his mother and just gone about waiting for whatever it was to pass, but since he had decided the second night in Essetir that it was far safer to sleep in his mother’s chambers, it was impossible to hide it.

“Merlin, love,” she finally said, the morning of their tenth day in Essetir, after he had finished emptying his stomach. “I think perhaps it’s time we go see if Cenred’s physician will take a look at you.”

Though he was reluctant, he’d been sick for too long and had no other symptoms, so it couldn’t have been a simple stomach bug. Grudgingly, he agreed. Cenred’s physician was younger than he had expected, but was impatient and unfriendly, not at all like their physician in Ealdor or Gaius in Camelot. He made it very clear that he had better things to be doing than giving the visiting prince a look over.

While Merlin sat on the examination table and waited, Hunith spoke to the physician in tones low enough that he couldn’t make out what she was saying, no matter how hard he tried. The physician nodded along, and when they finally finished and he walked over, the examination itself was brief and thorough. He felt around Merlin’s abdomen in a surprisingly gentle fashion, used some sort of device to listen to his stomach, and then, much to Merlin’s embarrassment, took both a urine sample and a sample of his natural lubricant.

He didn’t say much of anything throughout the whole process, besides commands for Merlin to move in a certain way or do a certain thing, and once he had taken the samples he moved over to another table and immediately began separating everything into multiple vials, mixing it all with various chemicals.

Hunith was considering more tense than he was himself, Merlin noted quickly, while they waited for the physician to finish whatever it was he was doing. Whatever it was he’d caught, he was sure it would go away with time and the right medication. But while he was just somewhat impatient, Hunith was wringing her hands together and biting at her lips, both things she only did when she was truly nervous about something. It was starting to put him on edge as well, wondering what she knew that he didn’t.

Finally, the physician put down the vial he’d been swirling and holding toward the window and faced them again. “A tentative congratulations are in order,” he said. “The tests to guarantee it will take about a day to complete, but I feel it’s fairly safe to conclude that you’re pregnant, Prince Merlin.”

The world seemed to shudder to a sudden, jarring halt.

\---

Barricaded away in their room, Merlin spent the remainder of the day laying in bed, alternating between staring up at the ceiling while trying not to think about anything and sobbing uncontrollably. He just didn’t know what to do, or what to think. He’d been so fucking stupid. The idea of becoming pregnant from the night with Arthur had never even crossed his mind. Hell, he’d never even really considered that aspect of being an Omega. He’d been so used to the idea of being a Beta, and actually presenting hadn’t really changed that mindset. He’d never considered being pregnant or having children. It was surreal and terrifying, especially when he let his mind drift to the reality that there was no way back now, he was going to have a child, and fuck, he had to tell Arthur.

That was probably the most terrifying part. Things with Arthur were still so tentative. He had received the return letter from him only two days before, and now he couldn’t help but think that was all going to come crashing down. This wouldn’t be something Arthur wanted. Hell, he wasn’t sure he wanted it. Maybe years down the road, but fuck, not right now.

Hunith did her best to soothe him, but it was fairly obvious that she shared his concerns, so for the most part it did very little to lift his spirits.

By the end of the day, Merlin had managed to collect himself enough to sit at the table and scratch out another letter to Arthur. He’d discarded the first few drafts, and broken down crying again in the middle of the third one, but finally he was as satisfied with it as he was ever going to be. His handwriting was loose and shaky, not his normal tight, neat scrawl, and there were obvious tear stains on the parchment, but there was nothing he could do about either of those. No matter how many copies he made, the only way to avoid those would be to have someone else copy it over, but he wanted it to be in his hand.

In the morning, two messengers left Cenred’s castle. One headed towards Ealdor with a letter explaining the situation to Balinor. The other carried a letter from Hunith to Uther as well as Merlin’s letter for Arthur toward Camelot.

The following day, despite it being two days ahead of schedule, they left Cenred’s castle and headed for Deorham. Officially, they were going to cancel the courtship that had been supposed to take place, but Merlin was more than happy to stop and visit with Gwaine, take his mind off things for a little while before returning to Ealdor and having to face his father’s wrath.

\---

Gwaine had always been one of Merlin’s closest friends, despite the distance that separated them. Their father’s got along for the most part, so they had seen each other fairly frequently growing up, and Gwaine had always sided with him against Arthur during the larger group gatherings. They sent a messenger ahead to warn of their slightly early arrival, but not the circumstances surrounding it. Unlike with the other Alphas, Merlin quite happily fell into Gwaine’s arms as soon as he was off his horse, clinging to him and only pressing closer when the embrace was returned immediately. Gwaine always had been, and always would be, safe, and he only proved it by quickly ushering Merlin out of the public eye and into the castle, up to his chambers.

Though it took some coaxing, once they were alone, Merlin reluctantly relayed the whole story. He imagined his mother was currently doing the same to Gwaine’s father, though probably in a more collected fashion. As it was, Merlin couldn’t stop himself from tearing up as he finally got to explaining that he was pregnant, and frustrated with himself for crying yet again, the tears only got worse. It was humiliating, but strangely good at the same time, because Gwaine listened with genuine concern and wanted to do whatever he could to help.

“And if that means I get to cut Pendragon’s balls off, even better,” he finished, smiling as it drew a quiet laugh from Merlin. Gwaine had made it very clear what his reaction would be if Arthur didn’t step up and take responsibility. Even if he didn’t necessarily agree - because he had the option to run away, he would - it was still nice to hear. The next day, he almost felt like himself, and was starting to think maybe the situation wasn’t going to completely destroy everything.

Of course, his somewhat brighter outlook was immediately ruined when his father’s letter arrived, and he was as furious as expected. Merlin was more relieved than ever that they had stopped in Deorham and Balinor would have some time to cool off before they got home. He would cool off, though, Merlin was sure of that. Even if the situation was far from ideal, it could have been much worse.

Though he was managing to slowly collect himself and accept the situation, Merlin still hadn’t heard anything from Arthur, and every time he thought about that it made him nervous. He had to continually remind himself that it was a significantly longer distance from Camelot to Deorham than Ealdor to Deorham, so of course Arthur’s answer to his letter would take a few extra days to reach him.

Gwaine did his best to keep Merlin occupied and his mind off everything negative, and for the most part he succeeded. They rode out and went hunting, camped out in the forest for a few nights and just enjoyed being outside but not really needing to do anything, Merlin worked with Gwaine and the other Deorham knights on his very lacklustre sword fighting, then had the privilege of helping them to work on their archery. Gwaine stayed with him late into the nights to keep him from laying in bed and letting his thoughts get darker, and Hunith didn’t try to rouse him in the mornings when he slept late.

Eventually, the letters from Camelot did come, one for him and one for his mother. Terrified of opening his own letter and reading Arthur’s reply, Merlin put it off for as long as possible. He did read Uther’s, though, once his mother had finished with it. Camelot’s king was, as expected, more than a little pleased with what had happened. He saw it as an event that had secured Merlin for Arthur, because surely an Omega would choose to be with their child’s father. His letter never brought up how Arthur felt about any of it, though, in true Uther fashion, and that was far from a comfort. Merlin had seen firsthand how little regard Uther usually gave Arthur’s feelings on a subject.

In the end, he didn’t open the letter. Gwaine grew sick of watching him sit on the edge of his bed, just turning it over in his hands, and snatched it from him, ripping it open before Merlin could stop him. Heart pounding, he watched Gwaine’s expression as he scanned the letter, taking note of all the little changes. An arching of an eyebrow, a slight frown, an overall pinched expression… and then a quiet sigh. “Here,” he said, and offered the letter back to Merlin. He ignored the way his fingers shook slightly as he reached back to take it.

He would swear, before, he wouldn’t have been this upset about anything concerned Arthur. They had had fun, yes, and there had been tentative feelings, but he could have gotten over it easily enough if Arthur had decided to rescind his request for Merlin to consider him. Now, though, there was just so much more at stake. He would pick up his head and move forward if he needed to, of course, but… He would really rather not have to.

Merlin read the letters through twice before letting himself sigh, crumpling into himself slightly and wondering if people could actually cry from sheer relief. There was none of the teasing and insulting that had been in the first two letters they’d sent to each other, but considering the serious nature of everything, he wasn’t surprised by that. Arthur admitted to have had a bit of a break down as well and stalling his reply for a few days as he sorted himself out, because neither of them had thought about the possible consequences to fucking that night. It had been foolish and stupid, but they were both responsible for it.

At the end of his letter, Arthur repeated what he had said before Merlin left Camelot. To send word when he had returned to Ealdor so Arthur could join him. Before, he had imagined Arthur would be coming to wait around for his heat and see if they didn’t kill each other beforehand. He had been excited and nervous at the thought of it, wondering if maybe it could actually work between them. Some of the excitement remained, but mostly his stomach twisted with nerves, and not necessarily the good kind. There were too many possible ways for it to all go wrong.

\---

Merlin managed to talk his mother into allowing them to stay at Deorham for a week and a half or so longer than the two weeks they had originally planned. The company was good, and Gwaine kept him from lingering too much on the turn his life had taken, and the possible ways it could get worse. By the time they did eventually pack up, Merlin was roughly ten weeks along, and finally started to show it. Though everything was easily disguised under one of the tunic that wasn’t fitted far too tightly to him, when he was barechested, the slight roundness to his stomach was all too obvious, and it was a source of both fascination and nervousness.

As they travelled back to Ealdor, Merlin tried to be conscious of it as much as possible, which he did by paying as little attention to it as possible. He purposely kept his hands away, wore clothing that kept it hidden, and generally tried to go about the days as if it didn’t exist. When he succeeded in forgetting about the swell, though, his hands drifted to it instinctively. Even if he didn’t always feel like it, he was an Omega, and his body responded naturally whenever he wasn’t paying attention.

The whole ride home, Merlin was dreading seeing Balinor and facing the disapproval and anger he knew he would be met with. He was beating himself up over it all enough, and he really didn’t need his father to add to it. After the initial week or so of disapproval, Hunith had softened entirely, and Merlin was counting on her to direct some of Balinor’s anger somewhere else.

When they actually did arrive home, Merlin’s worry over how Balinor would react got the better of him. He didn’t enjoy being an emotional wreck, but there was really nothing he could do to stop it, thanks to the child screwing with all his hormones. He was already tearing up before he even dismounted, not quite able to meet his father’s gaze as he approached him. This time, however, it worked in his favor, as it was apparently enough of a shock seeing his son cry that whatever lecture Balinor had been planning faded away in favor of embracing him, assuring him that everything would be all right when all Merlin could get out were apologies for fucking up so badly.

It was a bad day, but with the fear of how his father was going to react to him out of the way, things did get a little better. Whether it was the stress of the situation lessening some or his body just balancing itself out again, the sudden fits of hysterical emotion faded away until he had fairly good control of himself again. A few days after arriving home, he sent the promised letter to Arthur to tell him if he still wanted to come, now was the time.

\---

Though it took roughly a month, between the time it took for a messenger to get from Ealdor to Camelot, organizing everything, and actually travelling, Arthur did manage to get to Ealdor as quickly as possible. He brought a small party with him, a few of his loyal knights and a handful of servants. Merlin and both of his parents met him in the courtyard of the castle.

With another month, Merlin liked to think he had complete control over his emotions again, and the morning sickness that had plagued him for weeks was finally gone. It had been replaced with a deep-seated longing for Arthur, though, and he knew it was coming more from instinct and wanting to be close to the Alpha that had fathered his child than his own desire. Or at least, that was what he told himself.

Though it was still faint, the rounding of his stomach was almost noticeable beneath his regular tunics now. He went out of his way to wear looser clothing, still somewhat embarrassed, but he hoped that would ease some now, with Arthur’s presence. It was either going to go incredibly well, or horribly bad, but either way he would have to pick himself up and stop regretting everything after this. He couldn’t be ashamed of the child once it was born, regardless of whether or not Arthur wanted to be in the picture.

Hands laced behind his back, he watched as Arthur dismounted and handed the reins of his courser to a servant that was waiting to take it to the stables. The Alpha stopped a few steps away and bowed to both Balinor and Hunith in turn, thanking them for allowing his visit, before he finally turned to Merlin. Though it took some doing, his mouth suddenly dry, Merlin met his gaze evenly, trying not to let how unsure he was show through his expression. He watched as Arthur’s gaze swept over him, the way his throat worked as he paused at the barely-visible swell at his belly. He seemed to get stuck there, so Merlin cleared his throat, and Arthur’s gaze snapped up to meet his own. For whatever reason, it was relieving to see the same fear in Arthur’s expression that he felt whenever he looked at himself in the mirror anymore.

Gods, but they weren’t prepared for this. Not that they really had any choice in the matter now.

“Merlin,” Arthur finally said, tipping his head in acknowledgement.

“Arthur,” he answered, returning the gesture, painfully awkward. There were a few more moments of heavy silence, then a sigh from Balinor.

“Go, both of you. Nothing is going to be figured out with you standing there staring,” he said, reaching up to physically turn Merlin towards the door to the castle, jerking his head to motion for Arthur to follow. “Since there’s no more damage to be done, there’s no point sending anyone to watch you. Put Arthur up in the chambers adjacent to yours, Merlin,” he added.

“Of course, Father,” Merlin said, before starting to walk, taking the hallways and flights of stairs up to his own chambers on reflex alone. He wasn’t sure when, but about halfway there, he realized Arthur was walking at his side rather than a step behind him, one hand almost brushing against the middle of his back with every few steps. Hoping that seeming desire for contact as a good sign, Merlin swallowed and slowed just enough that Arthur’s hand pressed more firmly against his back. The rest of the walk, it lingered there, never breaking contact for more than a moment.

Once inside his chambers, Merlin moved to sit in front of the fire, and Arthur took the other. The days had cooled in the months since he’d been in Camelot, though winter was still a little ways off. There was silence for a long few minutes, heavy and oppressive, but finally Arthur broke it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and Merlin was surprised by how thick his voice was. “This was- I didn’t even think. You were just so… I got caught up. It never occurred to me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Merlin hurried to say, though his cheeks had colored slightly at the unvoiced compliment. “I didn’t- I hadn’t even really processed that I was an Omega. I never thought about it, either. It was stupid of us both but hey,” he paused, shrugging. “Nothing we can do now.” There was another pause, before he laughed, though there was nothing pleasant in the sound. “Well, nothing I can do,” he amended. “You still have the choice to walk away. If you want to. I’m not going to try and guilt you into anything.”

“You really are an enormous idiot if you think I’m going to leave you to deal with this on your own,” Arthur said, without any hesitance, and Merlin finally looked up at him. The sincerity in his tone and expression was almost overwhelming, and the insult helped make things seem a little more normal. If Arthur could still insult him, then there had to be some chance of things working out. “Besides, I- well, I wasn’t joking when I said there were, you know, some feelings involved. I never thought I would, but I wanted you, and I still do.” He paused, let out a heavy breath. “If you still even want to consider me.”

They weren’t going get fucking anywhere like this, Merlin realized suddenly. Both convinced the other didn’t want them, feeling sorry for themselves, regretting the situation - it would just continue until they’d convinced themselves it was true, and there was nothing to try and salvage. And maybe it wouldn’t work out for very long, but Merlin was not going to sit by passively and not even try. He had never been the type to do that, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“Do you want to see?” he asked, after steeling himself. Arthur’s brow furrowed at the question, head tilting slightly in silent question, and Merlin pulled up a small smile, letting of his hands brush up against the swell of his stomach. “Do you want to see?” he repeated, with more meaning in the inflection, and watched as Arthur swallowed before, slowly, nodding. Merlin stood, and in one smooth movement, pulled off his tunic and let it drape over the back of the chair he had been sitting in. It was difficult to bare himself to anyone other than the court physician, but Arthur had as much right to this as he did. Even if it had been one big, stupid accident, it was still his child as well.

Merlin’s cheeks colored as Arthur stood as well, approaching him slowly, almost hesitant, and started to reach out. “Can I?” he asked, gaze flicking up to meet Merlin’s as he asked.

“Of course,” Merlin said steadily, inhaling sharply when Arthur’s hand settled over his stomach. He hadn’t allowed anyone other than the physician to touch him, not even his mother, but as soon as Arthur made contact there was this fluttering under his skin. He had felt hints of it in the last couple weeks, but nothing quite that strong. “Oh,” he breathed out. Arthur frozen as soon as he inhaled and was looking at him nervously, as if afraid he had hurt him somehow - which he probably was, Merlin realized. “No, it’s- everything’s fine,” he assured, and this time a reassuring smile came a little easier to him. “The- it must have recognized you, or something,” he explained, not yet quite able to bring himself to refer to it as a baby out loud. “It shifted, when you touched me.”

“Oh,” Arthur answered, though there was something almost like wonder in his tone. “That’s- yeah.”

“Yeah,” Merlin echoed. He looked up and noticed Arthur was watching him, and there was something about his expression Merlin couldn’t help but smile slightly at. Noticing it, Arthur returned the smile, which for whatever reason caused something giddy to built up in Merlin’s chest. Before he knew it, he was laughing, unable to believe he had ever been worried that Arthur wouldn’t want anything to do with him or the child. Arthur was laughing as well, then, starting as chuckle and building into a deep, rich laugh as his hands slid over Merlin’s hips, sure in their grip, and Merlin leaned closer to him, the sheer relief of the situation making him feel lighter than he could remember feeling in ages.

Before he really knew what was happening, Arthur was kissing him, pulling him closer, and he was running his fingers through Arthur’s hair, nails scraping at the back of his neck. “You ass,” Merlin said into the kiss. “I was so worried-”

“You shouldn’t have been,” Arthur answered. “I wouldn’t- I’m not like that. And you, _gods_.”

Merlin chuckled and ducked his head, letting his forehead rest on Arthur’s shoulder as he just breathed, trying to process that things really might be okay. There was a chance, at least. They would try.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said when he finally picked his head back up. “Tell me more about how irresistible I am, how you wouldn’t be able to stay away no matter what.”

It got the desired effect, because Arthur let out a bark of surprised laughter. “Not a chance in hell,” he said a moment later. Merlin grinned.

If Arthur could still be an ass, then things were definitely going to be all right.

\---

The evening, Merlin had managed to get through half of his dinner before nodding off at the table, and Arthur had helped him to bed shortly after it. He figured it was mostly how emotionally draining the day and even the past weeks had been and was glad to let Merlin sleep. For a few moments after Merlin was settled in his bed, Arthur considered just stripping and getting into the bed with him. It was still early in the evening, but he had been travelling and was more than happy to head to bed early. He technically had his own chambers, though, and wasn’t sure if Balinor and Hunith would take kindly to him sharing a sleeping space with Merlin, innocently or otherwise. On the flip side, he also didn’t want Merlin to wake up and worry that because he hadn’t stayed, he wasn’t genuine.

In the end, he’d far rather face the wrath of the king and queen than make Merlin worry even more than he already had. He would just go fetch one of his bags from the chambers that had been designated for him first. Since he’d been given the chambers right next to Merlin’s, it was a quick walk to collect his bag. When he started to return to Merlin’s with it slung over his shoulder, though, he noticed Balinor was lingering in the hall. “Sire,” he greeted, with a respectful tit of his head. “If you’re looking for Merlin, he’s asleep.”

“Arthur,” Balinor answered, though there was no warmth or even friendliness in his tone. “I’m looking for you, actually. Why don’t you come with me for a moment.”

“Of course,” Arthur said, knowing damn well that wasn’t actually a request. He couldn’t help but be nervous, though, considering how much he knew Balinor and his father disliked each other. Not that it really ought to have had any bearing on their children, but he knew how politics worked.

Arthur fell in step with Balinor, and for a few minutes they just walked silently. Arthur kept his head down and silently waited for Balinor to start up with whatever it was he wanted to talk about. They turned down a few more hallways, Arthur making sure to pay attention so he could get back to Merlin’s rooms. Finally, when they were in a secluded corridor with no one else around, Balinor stopped. Before Arthur could really process anything else, Balinor’s hands were twisted in the front of his tunic and he was being backed up against the stone wall. Technically, Balinor really wasn’t that much bigger than him and Arthur could have shoved him off fairly easily. He couldn’t risk getting kicked out of the castle, though, so he bit his tongue and stayed still, though he did pick his head up, no longer keeping it tipped deferentially.

“Listen to me, boy,” Balinor finally started, and Arthur relaxed a little bit. He was probably just playing the overprotective father, then. As much as he didn’t appreciate the rough treatment, he figured things would be smoother once Balinor had said his peace and felt like he’d done his job. “I know your father, and his manipulative ways. I also know what it’s like to be young. So if this is just some scheme of Uther’s, or if you’re here because Merlin is a flight of fancy, then you can turn around and head right back to Camelot. This has been hard enough for Merlin without you making it more difficult by either changing your mind, or having it come out that this is just been your father’s plot the whole time. The fact that the child is yours is not important, understand me? If you screw him over, you’ll never see him or the child.”

“All right, all right,” Arthur finally said, raising his hands up in surrender. “You’ve made your point. I swear on anything I hold dear this is not some plot of my father’s. He wanted Merlin to pick me, yes, but even he wouldn’t have gone this far.” He paused then, holding his breath for a moment, knowing the next bit was probably not what Balinor would want to hear. He wasn’t going to lie, though. “I can’t promise it’s not a flight of fancy, on my end or on Merlin’s. It’s too early to tell. We had planned on having months to spend together to figure everything out before, well, sealing the deal, so to speak. But even if it is, I’m still going to do my best to be here for him and the child. I’m never going to up and walk away.”

Surprisingly, Balinor stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. His gaze was narrowed, but it looked more like he was considering what had been said rather than deciding on the best method of torture. “Good,” he finally said, and Arthur blinked in surprised. “I’d rather you both be realistic about this. Just makes sure you don’t make any promises you’ll end up breaking,” Balinor finished, then turned and walked away, in the opposite direction from the way they had come, without waiting for any sort of response.

Arthur let out a breath of relief, running his hands through his hair. He hadn’t expected anything like that, but he was glad it was over with now, and hopefully there wouldn’t be any follow-up threats. Glad now that he had paid attention as they walked, he headed back to Merlin’s chambers, eager to get changed for the night and find out if he and Merlin could comfortably share a bed without fucking first.

\---

Over the next few months, Arthur spent more time travelling than he ever had before, bouncing back and forth between Ealdor and Camelot. It really didn’t help that despite sharing a border, the castles were about as far away from each other they possibly could be. Uther wanted him in Camelot, but Arthur didn’t enjoy being so far away from Merlin. He felt like he was missing things he shouldn’t be. Despite his attempts to convince Merlin to just come to Camelot with him, though, Merlin refused to budge, preferring the occasional distance to having to leave his home. Considering he wasn’t the one constantly travelling back and forth, Arthur wasn’t surprised, and it did spark a fight or three. Most of the time, Arthur arrived back in Ealdor and his time there was pleasant, until he had to go back. Then they always fought, as he consistently tried to talk Merlin into returning to Camelot with him.

Consistently, Merlin refused. He was Ealdor’s prince, and he had as much duty to his father and kingdom as Arthur did, despite being pregnant.

At least, Merlin refused until a letter reached Arthur only a couple days after he’d arrived at Ealdor. He’d returned after only a week in Camelot, paranoid that he would miss the birth of their child, since Merlin was roughly eight months along. This time, he had plans to stick around for an extended period of time, at least a few months. Being there during the child’s infancy was important, after all; he refused to leave Merlin alone for such a critical time.

The letter changed everything.

It was from Gaius, urging Arthur to return to Camelot immediately. Apparently, something had happened to Uther, something to do with his heart. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t responsive, either. With the court physician fearing that the king might have been awake for the last time, Arthur was to come back immediately and take his place as temporary regent. Temporary, of course, because Uther wasn’t expected to wake up, so it was only a matter of time before he was crowned king in his own right.

This time, when Arthur started packing everything that he had only just finished unpacking, Merlin silently began packing with him.

“What are you doing?” Arthur asked, pausing in his own packing to watch Merlin drag out a bag from a chest at the foot of his bed and immediately begin throwing everything in his wardrobe into the bag, both his regular clothing and the newer clothing that had been made accommodate his stomach.

“What’s it look like? Getting ready to go to Camelot,” he answered, without even glancing up at Arthur.

Swallowing, Arthur let his hands drop. “Merlin,” he started. “You don’t have to-”

“Hush,” Merlin cut him off, straightening with only a little bit of difficulty. His tone brokered no argument, but his expression was soft as he moved over to where Arthur was standing, reaching up with one hand to curl his fingers around the side of his neck. Wanting the physical comfort more than anything, Arthur leaned into the touch. “If you think I’m going to let you go deal with all of this on your own, you’re a bigger idiot than I ever thought. As much as I wanted to have this kid here, it’s certainly not going to kill me for it to be in Camelot, and I doubt the babe really cares where it’s born. I’m not going to leave you alone through all of this.”

A part of Arthur wanted to argue, and under other circumstances maybe he would have, but at the moment he was altogether too relieved that Merlin was going to come with him and he wouldn’t have to be torn between the kingdom it was now his job to run and the Omega and child it was his duty to be around for. Having to face the inevitable death of his father was going to be hard enough without also having to worry about whether or not Merlin survived the labor, or if the child was healthy, or if there was any resentment at the distance. “Thank you,” he said, letting himself sink into Merlin’s open arms, pressing as close as he could with Merlin’s belly in the way. Merlin’s hands ran over his back and neck, occasionally shifting up to card through his hair, just letting them both stand quietly for a few minutes. Finally, having gathered himself some, Arthur pulled back enough to peck Merlin on the lips before moving away entirely. “Let’s get packed and on the road, then. The sooner we get you settled in Camelot, the better.”

Balinor wasn’t happy, but Hunith agreed with their reasoning once Merlin assured her that he would prefer she come along with them to assist with the birth. It would just be a comfort to him, to have his mother there during such a critical time. He figured she would also be the best person to help them adjust to caring for an infant, since Arthur’s mother wasn’t there to help.

They left for Camelot early the next morning.

\---

Arthur spent most of the first week they were in Camelot sitting at his father’s bedside. Merlin didn’t blame him, especially since Uther had continued to show no signs of waking up, and was instead deteriorating quickly. It made for a very somber mood each evening when Arthur returned to their chambers. While Merlin understood Arthur’s dark mood, he couldn’t stand to just let it alone.

About a week after they’d arrived in Camelot, Merlin was sitting on the bed when Arthur came in, piece of parchment in his hand. There was a quill and ink pot sitting off to the side on the night table, but he hadn’t touched them in a little while.

“So,” he said, smoothing out the parchment against his stomach. “Since this kid is supposed to be here in a fortnight, we should probably think about names.”

Arthur grunted to show he’d heard, but beyond that, didn’t offer anything. Though he frowned, Merlin was far from deterred.

“I was thinking, if it’s a boy, we could name him Gwaine.”

_That_ got him a reaction, and Merlin laughed as Arthur’s head snapped to look in his direction, glaring at him. “You’re not funny,” he grumped, but just before he turned away again, Merlin had caught the slightest upturn of his lips.

“What do you suggest, then?” he prompted. Even though he couldn’t see Arthur’s expression, he could guess that there was an eye roll to accompany the exasperated sigh that escaped Arthur.

“Well, for a girl, we could always go with Elena,” Arthur offered, and Merlin grinned to himself even as he forced himself to make an annoyed noise. Elena was a princess of another kingdom, and currently the only other royal Omega besides Merlin. A couple years before, Uther had almost managed to arrange a bonding between her and Arthur, especially since Elena’s father had pushed for it as well, but they had both been resistant to it, and eventually it was let alone.

“All right, jokes aside, come over here and help me think of some actual name options,” Merlin said then, patting the spot on the bed next to him. His plan to break through Arthur’s misery seemed to have worked, at least temporarily, since the Alpha did join him on the bed almost immediately and they set to picking out names they both liked together.

\---

Uther officially passed away after another week in Camelot, his body simply giving out one night. Arthur spent the rest of the night and the majority of the following day grieving silently, and this time, Merlin didn’t disturb him. He made sure Arthur knew he was there for any physical or emotional comfort he needed, when he was ready for it, and then left the issue alone.

Even as Arthur grieved for his father, the castle was already in motion around him, preparing for his coronation to take place as soon as possible. The time between official kings was dangerous for a kingdom, after all.

Unfortunately, the morning the coronation was supposed to take place was also the morning the baby decided it was ready to be born. Arthur, being Arthur, wouldn’t hear anything about leaving Merlin to go through with the ceremony, no matter how fast it was promised to be.

Merlin had a sinking feeling this was their child setting a precedent for interrupting important events, but couldn’t really bring himself to be overly bothered.

Almost a week later, the coronation was finally held, and as Arthur was crowned King of Camelot in front of hundreds of people, Merlin stood at the front of the crowd with their newborn daughter in his arms.

\---

“We can use the deposit of white stone they found nearby for the walls. There’s a river not far away, and the field is large enough to build an outside wall circling the town that will spring up around the castle. We’ll model the structure somewhat after this castle. The hidden siege tunnels have proved an asset time and again, and making sure they exist at the new castle as well is of the utmost importance.”

Merlin stood a few steps away, just watching as Arthur stood at the head of the table and explained the schematics he had spent the last few weeks drawing up to the court. For the most part, the murmurs going around were those of approval. There had initially been a lot of reluctance at the thought of building a new castle and moving there. It would shift the center of commerce in the kingdom, and that worried people. Arthur had been prepared, though. The new castle would only be a day’s ride from the coast, which meant more ease with trading goods that had to be done overseas. And eventually, Ealdor and Camelot would be one kingdom, he had reminded the court, sending a small smile to Merlin. They needed the castle to be closer to the center of the combined territories to make sure they could effectively protect all the borders.

“It will be a magnificent new castle, a symbol of the new age that will begin for the citizens of both Camelot and Ealdor,” he finished. “We’ve seen the way the white stone we plan to use looks when the sun hits it. It shines, unlike anything else you’ve ever seen. This shining castle will be the first step in building Albion.”

Arthur was finished, then, and though Merlin wasn’t sure who started it, within a few moments everyone in the council chambers was chanting ‘Long live the King.’ Arthur looked immensely proud of himself as he turned and walked back to Merlin, and the small smile broke out into a proper grin as Princess Alanna, now almost a full year old, reached out for him. Merlin handed her to Arthur easily, then let himself be pulled into a kiss.

As of a month previously, their bond was secure and Merlin was officially King Consort in the eyes of the courts of both kingdoms. The castle had been approved by Camelot’s court, and work on constructing it would begin within the month.

Whether or not Arthur would live to see it would be an entirely different story, because Merlin had been woken up that morning not by their daughter kneeing him or slapping him in the face with a stray hand, but by his stomach. This time, he had gone straight to Gaius, rather than speculating on whether or not he had been poisoned.

Two kids in two years was one too many, and while Alanna was the light of his life, and of Arthur’s, she was also completely exhausting and required all of their attention. There was no leaving her with someone else for a few hours, or getting her to sleep in her own bed. As soon as she realized she couldn’t see at least one of them, she threw a holy tantrum that wouldn’t stop until one of them returned for her.

Now, it seemed she would have a little sibling far sooner than planned, and Merlin smiled sweetly as he informed Arthur of it that night at dinner, while very purposely fingering the dagger he was using to slice his meat.

Castration was always an option.

And the fact that Arthur beamed at him like he’d just given him the best news in the world, well. That wasn’t going to sway him any. The warmth in his chest at the sight of it and the fact that his own lips pulled up in a smile had absolutely nothing to do with anything. After all, he’d had ages to build up an immunity to Arthur’s smile, and ages still to continue building it.


End file.
